Assistance method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

This invention provides for a method of (or apparatus for) facilitating the delivery of advice to consumers using a server unit which can store and display the names and characteristics of experts and then rapidly assist in connecting the expert and consumer for real-time communication. The server can also have the ability to receive keywords from the consumer, match those keywords to one or more experts, and tell the consumer how to contact an expert.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/488,130,filed on Jan. 20, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,165 B1, which claimsbenefit of provisional application No. 60/125,557, filed Mar. 22, 1999.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to techniques for delivering informationelectronically, more particularly, for delivering advice to consumersfrom a diverse set of experts. Still more particularly, the presentinvention relates to systems and methods for matching consumersquestions with experts, displaying available experts for consumerviewing and selection, providing for compensation from consumers toexperts, and providing for the connection between consumer and experts.

Definitions

Advice: Any needs of the consumer which can be provided for by anexpert, including but not limited to conversation, entertainment, soundsor pictures of any kind, text, video, audio. This advice is not limitedto that provided by agents regarding company products; it can includemedical, legal, educational, travel, entertainment, religious, and otherforms of advice. In addition, herein “advice” is meant broadly toinclude any type of information, comfort, or communication a consumerdesires.

Consumers: Individuals, companies, organizations, governments, ordevices which have one or more questions or needs for advice.

Experts: Individuals, companies, organizations, governments, or deviceswhich are able to provide advice to consumers, provided that experts'initial means to contact consumers is via the server in the AdviceRouter. Experts' compensation, which may be zero, can come from eitherconsumers directly or from the Advice Router. Collectively, expertsrepresent a broader range of knowledge and experience than do agentswhich work for a single company. Much as the word “advice” is usedbroadly, “expert” is meant broadly since many types of information canbe given by human beings.

Agents: Individuals, companies, organizations, governments, or deviceswho, as part of their relationship/employment at that institution,answers questions when connected to his institution's telephone orserver, provided that the agent is paid by the institution for thatfunction. The advice provided for by agents is generally restricted tothat regarding products offered by their respective company.

Server: any device, network or software which connects consumers andexperts.

Query: an action initiated by a consumer which includes keywords orother means to summarize their question or need for advice.

Expert characteristics: used for matching with consumers queries.Including, but not limited to one or more of the following: a code namewhich does not include his real name; keywords of expertise; number ofyears experience in each area of expertise; degrees earned; number ofyears of school after completion of high school or college; companiesworked for or schools/training programs attended in the past or present;age; language; neighborhood, city, state, and/or country of residence;quality score as judged by previous consumer interactions; compensationrate for consumer advice; and whether the expert is available at theactual moment of consumers query or within 1,2,5,10, 15, 30, 60 minutes.

Matching: a process for scoring and putting in an order of relevance alist or selected list of experts who are likely to be able to answer aconsumer's query. Can involve any method of assignment of numbers to thenumber of keyword matches or matches between ranges of characteristicsdesired by the consumer with the actual expert characteristics.

Logged in, or on-line: detectable means of communication between serverand expert, including but not limited to telephone, Internet telephony,email, audio, and/or video.

Means to contact: any method, information, or technology used to bringtogether the consumer with one or more experts, including but notlimited to telephone, Internet telephony, email, audio, and/or video.Means to contact includes telephone numbers (including toll-free andpay-per-call numbers), email addresses, Internet web pages or sites,video-conferencing details. More preferably, the means of contactincludes telephone, Internet telephony, audio, and/or video, and evenmore preferably Internet telephony, audio and/or video, and even morepreferably video. The technology to be used for any of the aboveincludes TVs, TVs with set-top web browsers, PCs, telephones, andsatellite connections.

Time-to-connect: the period of time between the transmission of themeans of contact and the actual connection between expert and consumer.In the case where the consumer selects an expert, the time-to-connect isthe period of time beginning when at the consumer's last action (e.g.,clicking on the symbol for an expert or his telephone number) and endingwhen the actual connection is made. In the case where the server makesboth connections, the time-to-connect is the period of time beginningwhen the server indicates to the consumer that it is beginning tocontact the expert and ending when the actual connection is made.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE

FIG. 1.a shows the most common arrangement today of the advice business,known as Centralized Advice Sources, where there are a large number ofconsumers and few agents to help them at each company; this has thegeneral shape of a funnel with too many questions going to too fewagents.

FIG. 1.b shows a fundamentally new advice technology structure, DiverseAdvice Sources, wherein the actual companies selling products are notinvolved or only peripherally involved. Diverse Advice Sources moreevenly equalizes the number of questions in the world at a given pointin time with the number of experts who are likely to be able to answertheir questions. This technology is in an hourglass shape where a largenumber of experts is available rather than the small number of agents ateach company. In the middle is a new form of information company, theAdvice Router, which rapidly facilitates the matching of and connectionbetween consumers and experts.

BACKGROUND: PROBLEMS WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE AND GENERAL ADVICE

As more technology (videorecorders, personal computers, Internet, TV webboxes, cell phones, etc.) enters peoples' lives, there is greater andgreater demand for help in choosing devices and solutions and in settingthem up and correcting problems. Even more, generally, there is greaterneed for assistance in daily life, whether it is for medical, legal,family, or entertainment reasons.

At the same time that more information is required to conduct our lives,available effective sources of that information have not grownsufficiency in number or efficiency.

Companies selling products often have web pages or telephone supportlines, but these are either too restricted in information, or theconsumer must wait for long periods for live help.

To help with the routing of calls to available agents in a company, Cave(WO9813765) has devised a real-time system wherein a queuing managerroutes calls to an agent who is free at the time. The system stillinvolves automated answering systems which many consumers findfrustrating, and it requires the hiring of not only agents but thequeuing manager.

In the future, streaming audio and video capabilities on the web willmake it possible for company agents to speak directly to consumers.However, this will be very costly to operate and the consumer willprobably have to wait for long times to speak to one of the agents.

For general advice, the Internet is far too inefficient for many uses.Search engines return many hits, requiring the consumer to try many websites and hope that the answer is available.

1-900 phone numbers (pay-per-call) are limited in scope and consumershesitate to use them due to high per-minute rates, lack of trust in thebilling, and generally perceived notions that the 900 numbers are forless-than-serious concerns such as astrology or sex chat. In addition,900 services are small and narrowly focused, without the benefits of theDiverse Advice Sources arrangement, and they did not include matchingand/or display technologies.

As shown in FIG. 1.a, the fundamental problem with current advicetechnologies is that there are a large number of consumers and fewagents to help them at each company; this is known as Centralized AdviceSources, and the has the general shape of a funnel with too manyquestions going to too few agents. This leads to high cost (to payagents and purchase systems), slow response time (long hold times ontelephone), and lack of personal service (live agents). In addition, theagents often can only answer a limited range of questions regarding thecompanies products. Thus, the participation and control of the consumeradvice function by each company is fundamentally hurting the company byfrustrating consumers and by requiring it to staff, manage, and pay fora vast and complex undertaking which is outside of its main expertise(making widgets, providing a narrow service, etc.).

Previous solutions have not adequately filled the need, particularly forimmediate advice or connection between appropriate people.

The American Information Exchange (AMIX) was a central exchange thatattempted to mediate between buyers and sellers of information. But thecomplexity and lack of immediacy, among other problems, limited itsability to efficiently solve the buyer's problem.

Walker (U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,223) envisioned a similarly complexexchange, often involving several lengthy steps where a user request issubmitted; a search of experts, even beyond its members, is undertaken;a portion of the user request (question) is transmitted to thecomputer-selected expert, etc. until the request if fulfilled. Walker(col 8, line 49; col 24, line 67) allows the user himself to select theexpert from a general list, but there is no provision for seeing whichexpert is available at that instant to talk, and there is no provisionto make the process of connecting the expert and user quickly, saywithin 1 min or 10 seconds. In addition the user must submit a portionof his question (end user request).

In the complex process described by Walker, the expert and user cancommunicate in real-time (col 9, line 1; col 26, line 49), but onlyafter the process of submitting the end user request to the expert.

In another embodiment of Walker (col 28, line 66), the end user callsthe central controller and eventually is put in touch with an expert fora real-time connection. No allowance is made for the central controllerto make two separate calls (thus connecting the expert and user) afterthe user selects the expert.

In addition, there are no constraints in Walker on how fast thetime-to-connect process needs to be to be useful. Timely information ismore highly valued than delayed information.

Moreover, the detailed lists of experts and their characteristics(resumes, etc.) that are displayed in Walker (col 25, line 35) are notsuitable for a system that fills the need for rapid selection andconnection between parties; as the number of experts grows, there willbe simply too many pages of text to scroll through. There is needed anew display system where users can rapidly survey the available expertsvia information rich graphics.

Walker does not take into account the use of experts as a workforce forcustomer support. No mention is made of product or service companiesissuing certification for experts, and, in turn, those certificationslisted or displayed explicitly by the central controller/server.

Description

In one embodiment, this invention provides for a fundamentally newadvice technology structure, Diverse Advice Sources, wherein the actualcompanies selling products are not involved or only peripherallyinvolved. Diverse Advice Sources more evenly equalizes the number ofquestions in the world at a given point in time with the number ofexperts who are likely to be able to answer their questions. As shown inFIG. 1.b this technology is in an hourglass shape where a large numberof experts is available rather than the small number of agents at eachcompany. In the middle is a new form of information company, the AdviceRouter, which rapidly facilitates the matching of and connection betweenconsumers and experts.

The sheer number of experts available in Diverse Advice Sources solvesthe arithmetic (funnel) problem of Centralized Advice Sources, leadingto the two most important benefits: fast response and the routineavailability of live experts. In addition the diversity of sourcesraises the likelihood that the consumer will get more holistic advice,not limited to the tools available from any one company.

In another embodiment, this invention provides for a method of (orapparatus for) facilitating the delivery of advice to consumers,comprising:

providing a server unit with the ability to store the names oridentification of two or more experts, said experts coded by one or moreexpert characteristics, said server having the ability to detect whichexperts are online;

said server having the ability to display at least one of said expertcharacteristics with information-rich graphics or symbols;

said server having the ability to respond to a consumer's selection ofexpert by either sending the consumer a means to contact expert or byconnecting the consumer and expert for real-time communication;

wherein the time-to-connect between consumer and expert is 30 minutes orless.

In another embodiment, this invention provides for a method of (orapparatus for) facilitating the delivery of advice to consumers,comprising:

providing a server unit with the ability to store the names oridentification of two or more experts, said experts coded by one or moreexpert characteristics, said server having the ability to detect whichexperts are online;

said server unit having the ability to receive one or more keywords froma consumer;

said server unit having the ability to match those keywords to one ormore experts and send the consumer a means to contact;

wherein the time-to-connect between consumer and expert is 30 minutes orless.

Certification

In the transition from central to diverse advice sources, companies willfind that it is economical to broaden its customer support workforce tonon-employees. While these non-employees may not have as detailed or asfrequent training, they can answer many of the questions consumers have.Thus a company can offer simple tests and, optionally, transmit theresults of those tests to the server, which maintains an up-to-datestatus of each expert. Alternatively, the company can simply give thecertification to the expert who transmits the results to the server.

Certification tests can take many forms, including but not limited toweb-based questionnaires, phone, Internet, or face-to-face interviews,live video connections, etc. Optionally, a company can useauthentication procedures (fingerprint, voiceprint, “cookies” theexpert's computer, passwords, etc.) to ensure the expert's identity.Optionally, the test and results can be cryptographically transmittedbetween the company and expert; or between the company and server.

Certification can also come from organizations or schools orgovernments.

Matching

In another embodiment, this invention provides for a matching system orrelevance scoring method which finds the best expert to answer aconsumer's question. This can involve any method of assignment ofnumbers to the number of keyword matches or matches between ranges ofcharacteristics desired by the consumer with the actual expertcharacteristics. This technology is well known for search engines likeYahoo! for finding matches between a consumer's keywords and web pagesas well as eBay for finding matches for merchandise. However, a systemand method does not currently exist that allows one to match a widearray of features, including, but not limited to, two or more of thefollowing expert characteristics: a code name which does not include hisreal name; keywords of expertise; number of years experience in eacharea of expertise; degrees earned; number of years of school aftercompletion of high school or college; companies worked for orschools/training programs attended in the past or present; age;language; neighborhood, city, state, and/or country of residence;quality score as judged by previous consumer interactions; compensationrate for consumer advice; and whether the expert is available at theactual moment of consumers query or within 1,2,5,10, 15, 30, 60 minutes.

It is preferred that the number of categories in the list of expertcharacteristics used for matching be at least four, such as code name,keywords, compensation rate, and time availability. More preferably, thenumber of categories should be at least six. Even more preferably, thenumber of categories should be at least eight. Most preferred, thenumber of categories should be at least ten.

In another embodiment, this invention provides for a system for andmethod of displaying selected experts to the consumer. This includes, ata minimum, conveying, through means that include but are not limited totelephone, Internet telephony, email, audio, and/or video, a way for theconsumer to contact the expert (the means of contact). It is morepreferred for that conveyance to be performed by Internet telephony,email, audio, and/or video. It is most preferred for that conveyance tobe performed by audio, and/or video.

The number of experts presented to the consumer can be at least one. Itis more preferred that the number of experts presented to the consumeris at least two. It is even more preferred that the number of expertspresented to the consumer is at least five. It is even more preferredthat the number of experts presented to the consumer is at least ten. Itis even more preferred that the number of experts presented to theconsumer is at least 20. It is most preferred that the number of expertspresented to the consumer is over 100.

In another embodiment, this invention provides for a system for andmethod of protecting the privacy and identity of both the expert and theconsumer. If the expert prefers, his actual name, address and otherinformation will be withheld from the consumer. Also, individual entriesin the expert characteristics list can be shielded from view by theconsumer. The consumer likewise can be protected. While privacy has beenprovided for in commercial/advertising technologies (see Goldhaber, U.S.Pat. No. 5,855,008), the shielding but still utilizing detailed expertcharacteristic lists has not been provided for.

Display

In addition to the mere conveyance of the means of contact, it is morepreferred for the consumer to be presented with a visual display ofavailable experts. Systems and methods have been used by Yahoo! andothers for displaying game-playing individuals, with information relatedto availability for a game now, skill level, and code name. No suchsystem or method exists for displaying expert characteristics.

Display methods include but are not limited to information-rich graphicssuch as objects with varying color or density, bar graphs, line graphs,3-D graphs, icons, pictures, photographs, video. All of the above caninclude animation or motion to attract attention. Words and numbers canbe added on or near any of the above to give further expertcharacteristics. Any of the above can be addressable by mouse/cursorlocation so that the consumer can easily select which expert to chooseor which set of experts to zoom in on and view more closely. Optionally,zoom (magnification) and/or rotation functions can also be used. Thezoom function can allow new and more detailed expert characteristics toappear with each increase in magnification. Similarly rotations ofobjects can reveal more detailed expert characteristics.

Useful expert characteristics that can be displayed visually include,but are not limited to: the expert's quality (rating) score, whether theexpert is online now, or how long until he will be; whether the experthas a separate phone line, and whether it is busy or not.

A legend can optionally be provided when abstract symbols or colors areused so that consumers can tell what each symbol or color means.

In another embodiment, experts can select their own symbol, pictures,logos, etc. to advertise themselves. These include all of the aboveoptions. Optionally, they can use online avatars to representthemselves, with the additional option of the voice and facialexpression of the expert transmitted to the consumer via this avatar.

In another embodiment, a special symbol/notation is displayed next to oras part of an experts symbol if he has been certified by selectedcompanies or organizations. The symbol/notation can optionally expire,disappear, or change its characteristics (color, etc.) after a certainlength of time so that the expert is forced to take tests to maintaincertification.

In another embodiment, the display is a map either of geography, systemor building architecture or any type of display where experts are, atthat time, located or qualified in. The map and expert symbols on it iscontinually updated to see who is online and/or their exact or generallocation. The size of the symbol used for each expert is adjusted as thenumber of experts online increases so each can be displayed. Optionallythe zoom function allows better viewing of crowded regions of the map.

This display method can be useful in cases where a consumer only wantsinformation from someone at a particular location, e.g., to determineweather, sport conditions (ski, surf, etc), traffic, delivery/pickuptruck availability, nature (animal sightings), entertainment(club-hopping), state or city laws, or any kind of location-dependentinformation.

Other types of non-geographical maps or diagrams can also be used,including but not limited to software architecture, flow charts, graphs,etc. Here the location of the expert's symbol is determined by theirexpertise in a particular subject within that map.

In some cases, if the expert is qualified in more than one area, two ormore of his symbols may appear in a given map or diagram.

Graphicel displays (line or scatter plots, etc) can be used by theconsumer to weigh different features of the experts before making aselection. The consumer can be given a choice of 2- or 3-dimensional,and what the axis of the graph represent: quality score, compensationrate, distance from the consumer, etc. The symbols for the availableexperts in a particular subject area are placed in their appropriateposition of the graph and the consumer can see, for example ascattergram and pick a well-rated expert who is not too expensive.

It is more preferred that the display method graphically show at leastthe following two items: relevance score or order of preference ofexperts on the one hand, and the time availability of the expert on theother. The latter refers to whether the expert is available at theactual moment of consumers query or within 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 30, 60minutes. It is even more preferred that the display method graphicallyshow at least the following three items: relevance score or order ofpreference of expert, the time availability of the expert, and thecompensation rate for consumer advice with that expert. It is even morepreferred that the display method graphically show at least thefollowing four items: relevance score or order of preference of expert,the time availability of the expert, the compensation rate for consumeradvice with that expert and the quality score as judged by previousconsumer interactions. It is most preferred that the display methodgraphically show at least the following five items: relevance score ororder of preference of expert, the time availability of the expert, thecompensation rate for consumer advice with that expert, the qualityscore as judged by previous consumer interactions, and one item selectedfrom the following list: number of years experience in each area ofexpertise; degrees earned; number of years of school after completion ofhigh school or college; companies worked for or schools/trainingprograms attended in the past or present; age; language; neighborhood,city, state, and/or country of residence.

Compensation

Diverse Advice Sources fundamentally changes the economics of theconsumer advice business. As shown in FIG. 1, Diverse Advice Sourcesreplaces the awkward arrangement in Centralized Advice Sources whereinindividual companies are expected to pay for consumer advice (by payingtheir hired agents) when it is the consumer who is benefiting from theadvice. Of course consumers had in the past expected companies to payfor this advice, to encourage the consumer to use their product and notproducts from competing companies. The companies respond by establishinglimited consumer advice groups which are highly inefficient and costlyto the company. In Diverse Advice Sources, the consumer pays for theadvice information packet directly, to either or both of the expert andthe Advice Router.

This invention also includes an alternative case where the consumer doesnot directly pay either the expert or the Advice Router. In this specialcase, general advertisements are used to fund the Advice Router, and theAdvice Router either compensates the expert for his time, or the expertreceives no direct compensation and instead gains some other value(e.g., advertising).

Unique payment systems and methods used by the Advice Router include butare not limited to the following:

a) credit card or (cyber-money) accounts for one or both of the consumerand expert; proper deductions and credits are made to each account aftereach transaction.

b) the means of contact can include a 900 number (or similarper-per-call/pay-per-view technology for the Internet); in this case,the consumer simply dials the 900 number given by and controlled orcontracted for by the Advice Router, and the expert is paid according towell-known 900 number technology. This 900 number technology has beenused in the past to provide advice from individual groups, but theseactivities did not include matching and/or display technologies, nor didthey have the benefits of the Diverse Advice Sources arrangement.

c) other phone or media accounts.

Various payment schemes can be optimized to meet consumer and expertexpectations. For example, rather that a flat per-hour, per-minute, orper-session rate, a number of schemes can be used to compensate for theconsumer ensuring that the expert is adequate (for example, the firsttwo minutes free), etc.

In all of these cases, the Advice Router can receive a fee for conveyingthe means of contact, and/or the connection.

Also, the Advice Router can pay or rebate a portion of the consumercharge if the consumer take some additional action, such as rating thequality of the expert, etc.

Connection

This invention provides for a system and method whereby the server usedby the Advice Router can be used for providing for or aiding rapidconnections and monitoring of interactions between consumers andexperts.

Regarding the connection, it is preferred that the server provide for orfacilitate a connection within 30 minutes after the means of contact hasbeen conveyed to the consumer. It is more preferred that thetime-to-connect is 10 minutes or less. It is even more preferred thatthe time-to-connect is 5 minutes or less. It is even more preferred thatthe time-to-connect is 2 minutes or less. It is even more preferred thatthe time-to-connect is 1 minute or less. It is even more preferred thatthe time-to-connect is 30 seconds or less. It is even more preferredthat the time-to-connect is 20 seconds or less. It is most preferredthat the time-to-connect is 10 seconds or less.

The connection can include any method or technology used to bringtogether the consumer with one or more experts, including but notlimited to telephone, Internet telephony, email, audio, and/or video.More preferably, the connection-involves telephone, Internet telephony,audio, and/or video, and even more preferably Internet telephony, audioand/or video, and even more preferably video. The technology to be usedfor any of the above includes TVs, TVs with set-top web browsers, PCs,telephones, and satellite connections.

In the case where the consumer selects an expert on the Internet, theserver can connect both using a two-step procedure wherein two separateand independent transmissions (e.g., telephone calls) are placed andthen the two transmissions are joined together. This allows the serverto store the expert addresses/phone numbers anonymously and control theconnection.

The server should be able to monitor the interactions to provide forquality control and/or exact payment.

Example

Two experts, Joe and Bill, connect to the Advice Router and fill outforms describing their expertise. Joe is expert in Microsoft's Word andPowerpoint programs, and Bill is expert in the Word and Excel programs.The server detects that they are both logged on. Later thatevening,.Bill is busy with a consumer for a period he estimates will be15 more minutes. Joe is free. At that moment, David, a consumer, logs onand fills out a keyword query list that best suits his question: how toturn off the automatic spellchecker in Microsoft Word. He also gives hisVISA credit card number via a secure link. A second after he finisheshis entry, a display on his PC shows two color-coded boxes coincidingwith the current list of available experts, Joe and Bill (only theircode names are used, however). The relevance score for both is 1.0(optimal) since both are experts in Microsoft Word. Both experts alsocharge the same rate, $1.00 per minute. However, a small box in Joe'sarea is clearly green and easy to read—this box corresponds to the factthat Joe is available at this instant to speak to David. (David does notselect Bill since the red color in his box corresponds to a 15 min. waitor more.) David clicks an icon in Joe's, box and a second or two later,a streaming real-time video of Joe appears on David's PC, and if David'sPC is so enabled, Joe sees David in his PC. They spend five minutessolving David's problem and log out. Prior to logging out, however,David receives a $0.50 rebate on the cost of the connection by ratingthe quality of Joe's help, from 0 for “awful” to 10 for “great”. Thecost of David's call is $5.00 minus $0.50 or $4.50; in his case, this isadded to his monthly $50-$100 phone/Internet bill.

For maintaining the site, the Advice Router deducts $1.00 from the net$4.50 received and remits $3.50 to Joe. If David had not elected toreceive the $0.50 rebate, the Advice Router would have made $1.50 on thecall.

For most of its experts, the Advice Router takes out 30% before payingthe experts.

Those skilled in the art will know that this example is illustrativeonly and does not in any way limit the range of applications of thepresent invention.

I claim:
 1. A method of connecting two parties in real time, the methodcomprising: displaying a list of experts to a consumer via an internetconnection with said consumer prior to the consumer submitting aquestion; the list indicating individually whether each expert iscurrently available to telephonically communicate with said consumer ata time when said consumer is viewing the list, said list includes acompensation rate for each expert; in response to the consumer selectinga displayed icon corresponding to an expert from the list, automaticallyestablishing a telephone connection between the expert and the consumerprior to the consumer submitting a question to the expert; and saidautomatically establishing the telephone connection includes a centralcontroller placing a telephone call to said consumer, and said centralcontroller placing a telephone call to said expert.
 2. The method asdescribed in claim 1, further comprising, after the real timecommunication connection has ended, prompting the consumer to provide aquality score for the expert.
 3. The method as described in claim 1,wherein the indication of each expert's availability includes aninformation-rich graphic.
 4. The method as described in claim 1, whereinthe list includes an avatar representation for each expert.
 5. Themethod as described in claim 1, wherein the list includes an indicationof the expert's certification.
 6. The method as described in claim 1,wherein the list includes a compensation rate for each expert.
 7. Themethod as described in claim 6, wherein the compensation rate includes arate per period of time.
 8. The method as described in claim 1, whereinthe list includes a quality score provided by previous consumers.
 9. Themethod as described in claim 1, wherein the list is provided in responseto a keyword search.
 10. The method as described in claim 9, wherein thekeyword search includes matching based upon a plurality of expertcharacteristics.
 11. The method as described in claim 1, wherein thelist is provided in response to a category selection.
 12. The method asdescribed in claim 1, wherein said telephone connection is an internettelephony connection.
 13. The method as described in claim 1, whereinthe real time communication connection includes a video connection. 14.The method as described in claim 1, wherein the real time communicationconnection is established without disclosing identity information aboutthe expert to the consumer and without disclosing identity informationabout the consumer to the expert.
 15. The method as described in claim1, further comprising: monitoring how long the real time communicationconnection is maintained between the expert and the consumer.
 16. Themethod as described in claim 15, further comprising, billing theconsumer based upon how long the real time communication connection ismaintained.
 17. The method as described in claim 15, further comprising:setting up an account for the expert; and crediting the account for anamount based upon how long the real time communication connection ismaintained.
 18. The method as described in claim 15, further comprising:setting up an account for the expert; and crediting the account for anamount based upon how long the real time communication connection ismaintained minus a fee.
 19. The method as described in claim 1, furthercomprising: setting up a consumer account for the consumer.
 20. Themethod as described in claim 19, wherein setting up the consumer accountincludes obtaining credit card information from the consumer.
 21. Themethod as described in claim 19, further comprising: monitoring how longthe real time communication connection is maintained between the expertand the consumer; and deducting from the consumer account an amountbased upon how long the real time communication connection ismaintained.
 22. A system for connecting two parties in real time, thesystem comprising: a database to store information about a plurality ofexperts; a first logic unit linked with the database to display a listof experts to a consumer via an internet connection with said consumerprior to the consumer submitting a question, the list indicatingindividually whether each expert is currently available totelephonically communicate with said consumer at a time when saidconsumer is viewing the list, said list includes a compensation rate foreach expert; and a second logic unit linked with the database toautomatically establish, in response to the consumer selecting adisplayed icon corresponding to an expert from the list, a telephoneconnection between the consumer and the expert prior to the consumersubmitting a question to the expert; said second logic unitautomatically establishing the telephone connection by a centralcontroller placing a telephone call to said consumer, and said centralcontroller placing a telephone call to said expert.
 23. The system asdescribed in claim 22, wherein the server has a third logic unit toprompt the consumer to provide a quality score for the expert after thereal time communication connection has ended.
 24. The system asdescribed in claim 23, wherein the quality score is stored on thedatabase.
 25. The system as described in claim 22, wherein the firstlogic unit provides the list of experts in response to a keyword search.26. The system as described in claim 22, wherein the first logic unit iscapable of matching based upon a plurality of expert characteristics.27. The system as described in claim 22, wherein the first logic unitprovides the list of experts in response to a category selection. 28.The system as described in claim 22, wherein the telephone connection isan internet telephony connection.
 29. The system as described in claim22, wherein the real time communication connection includes a videoconnection.
 30. The system as described in claim 22, wherein the realtime communication connection is established without disclosing identityinformation about the expert to the consumer and without disclosingidentity information about the consumer to the expert.
 31. The system asdescribed in claim 22, wherein the server has a third logic unit tomonitor how long the real time communication connection is maintainedbetween the consumer and the expert.
 32. The system as described inclaim 31, wherein the server has a fourth logic unit to bill theconsumer based upon how long the real time communication connection ismaintained.
 33. The system as described in claim 31, wherein thedatabase further stores information about an account set up for theexpert, and the server has a fourth logic unit linked with the databaseto credit the account for an amount based upon how long the real timecommunication connection is maintained.
 34. The system as described inclaim 31, wherein the database further stores information about anaccount set up for the expert, and the server has a fourth logic unitlinked with the database to credit the account for an amount based uponhow long the real time communication connection is maintained minus afee.
 35. The system as described in claim 22, wherein the databasestores information about a consumer account set up for the consumer. 36.The system as described in claim 35, wherein the information about theconsumer account includes credit card information obtained from theconsumer.
 37. The system as described in claim 35, wherein the serverhas: a third logic unit to monitor how long the real time communicationconnection is maintained between the consumer and the expert; and afourth logic unit linked with the database to deduct from the consumeraccount an amount based upon how long the real time communicationconnection is maintained.
 38. A computer-readable medium having storedthereon instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause thecomputer to perform a method comprising: displaying a list of experts toa consumer via an internet connection with said consumer prior to theconsumer submitting a question, the list indicating individually whethereach expert is currently available to telephonically communicate withsaid consumer at a time when said consumer is viewing the list, saidlist includes a compensation rate for each expert; in response to theconsumer selecting a displayed icon corresponding to an expert from thelist, automatically establishing a telephone connection between theexpert and the consumer prior to the consumer submitting a question tothe expert; and said automatically establishing the telephone connectionincludes a central controller placing a telephone call to said consumer,and said central controller placing a telephone call to said expert. 39.The computer-readable medium as described in claim 38, having storedthereon instructions that further cause the computer to prompt theconsumer to provide a quality score for the expert after the expert hasfinished communicating with the consumer.
 40. The computer-readablemedium as described in claim 38, having stored thereon instructions thatfurther cause the computer to monitor how long the real timecommunication connection is maintained between the expert and theconsumer.
 41. The computer-readable medium as described in claim 40,having stored thereon instructions that further cause the computer tobill the consumer based upon how long the real time communicationconnection is maintained.
 42. The computer-readable medium as describedin claim 40, having stored thereon instructions that further cause thecomputer to: set up a consumer account for the consumer; and deduct fromthe consumer account an amount based upon how long the real timecommunication connection is maintained.
 43. The computer-readable mediumas described in claim 40, having stored thereon instructions thatfurther cause the computer to: set-up an account for the expert; andcredit the account for an amount based upon how long the real timecommunication connection is maintained.
 44. The computer-readable mediumas described in claim 40, having stored thereon instructions thatfurther cause the computer to: set-up an account for the expert; andcredit the account for an amount based upon how long the real timecommunication connection is maintained minus a fee.
 45. Thecomputer-readable medium as described in claim 38, wherein the telephoneconnection is an internet telephony connection.
 46. Thecomputer-readable medium as described in claim 38, wherein theinstructions stored thereon cause the computer to establish a videoconnection in response to the consumer selecting the expert.
 47. Thecomputer-readable medium as described in claim 38, wherein theinstructions stored on the computer-readable medium cause the computerto establish the real time communication connection without disclosingidentity information about the expert to the consumer and withoutdisclosing identity information about the consumer to the expert.